The beautiful Cross that appears on the covers of A Tempered Faith,A Teachable Faith and A Treasured Faith is not a computer graphic. Nor is it the enormous cross of beams that was left standing when the towers fell. This Cross is an 8-inch sculpture that was carved from a steel girder from the World Trade Center, and it was left for me -- anonymously -- at my church a few months after 9/11. It now sits on the fireplace mantle in my living room as a reminder of how God can bring beauty from ashes...

For so long, I tried unsuccessfully to find out who had sent me this precious gift. When I first mentioned the Cross to the design team at my publisher, The Olive Press, they immediately envisioned it to appear as a powerful image on the cover of my books. And indeed it is. The Cross is a symbol of hope wrapped in steel...

I have since learned the identity of the anonymous carpenter of steel who had kindly reached out to me in those dark days after 9/11 -- not with words, but with his gifted hands and his compassionate heart. Rich DePietro, I cannot thank you enough for the Cross you made for me. It is the only memory of Ground Zero that I cherish. It represents my faith and my ministry, because like the Cross, I have been "through the fire" but emerged with a victory through Christ.